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Keeping the Disability Fund Afloat

Bottom line for Republicans: siphon off support for Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) as a prelude to an attack on all of Social Security.

Jan. 30, 2015 7:34 p.m. ET

Lanhee Chen mentions only one of the two major reasons our Social Security Administration continues to waste billions of dollars on disability payments to those who could actually work: its failure to conduct continuing disability reviews (“A Capsizing Disability-Insurance Program,” op-ed, Jan 21). Although it’s well known within the SSA that $1 spent on such reviews yields $10 in savings due to the termination of benefits to those who have recovered sufficiently to rejoin the workforce, the administration prioritizes addressing current, new applications. The failure to conduct these reviews also encourages those who...